The present invention relates generally to an adjustable seating system for a vehicle, and more particularly to an automatically adjustable seating system for a vehicle that provides optimum visibility for the driver.
Adjustable seating systems for vehicles are well known in the art. Current adjustable seating systems typically allow a user to electronically adjust a variety of seating characteristics through actuation of one or more switches or buttons. These available adjustments typically include the height of the seat base and seat back, the distance of the seat from the foot pedals and steering wheel, the angle or cant of the seat base and seat back, as well as other comfort adjustments, such as lumbar support.
Additionally, many current adjustable seat systems provide a controller with a memory source that allows for the storage of one or more custom seat settings. These custom settings allow a driver or user to position the seat according to his or her own custom setting by modifying one or more of the available adjustments and then store the custom setting on the memory source. Thereafter, the driver can automatically move the seat back to the custom setting by pressing a memory recall button instead of having to individually position each portion of the seat each time.
While these automatically adjustable seats are advantageous in that they can store the desired seat positions for multiple users for quick recall, these seat systems typically position the seat based on subjective user criteria. These user criteria, however, do not always place the user in the most optimum position from a safety standpoint or locate the user in a position with optimum field of view. For example, typical adjustable vehicle seat systems do not provide optimum field of view characteristics for multiple potential drivers regardless of their physical characteristics, such as stature. Further, typical adjustable vehicle seat systems also fail to position drivers an optimum distance from the steering column, fail to position the driver in an optimum position to view the visual displays or controls, and fail to position the driver in an optimum position to provide the best line of sight to the side mirrors. Moreover, current seat systems do not address eliminating cognitive distractions, such as those caused by a passenger, which can create potential safety concerns for a driver.
Other known systems have attempted to provide automatic positioning of some of the above adjustments through the use of a weight sensor or an out-of-position sensor. However, weight sensors are typically only available to adjust the seat height and thus, these systems are unsuccessful in providing automatic adjustment to account for all the criteria set forth above. Additionally, systems with weight sensors do not address all of the safety issues set forth above.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an automatically adjustable seat system that provides optimum comfort characteristics for a wide range of drivers having varying physical characteristics.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an automatically adjustable seat system that provides optimum visibility through the windows, optimum view of the instrument displays, and control of the foot and hand controls with greater consistency than conventional seating systems.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide an automatically adjustable seat system that ensures a proper seating position for drivers having a wide range of physical characteristics by maximizing the distance between the driver and the airbag contained in the steering wheel.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide an automatically adjustable seat system that positions a driver in an optimum position from a safety standpoint based on the sensed location of a physical feature of the driver.
In accordance with the above and the other objects of the present invention, an automatically adjustable seat system is provided. The seat system includes a sensor for detecting the position of a physical feature of a driver, such as the driver""s eyes or other physical feature. The sensor is in communication with a controller to which the detected physical position of the driver feature is transferred. A seat and headrest positioning mechanism is in communication with the controller to automatically locate the seat and headrest in a position which provides the driver with an optimum field of view, based on the information from the sensor. A pedal box with at least one control pedal is in communication with the controller to automatically position the pedals, based on the information from the sensor, in an optimum position for use by the driver. A steering column mechanism is also in communication with the controller to automatically position the steering wheel and other hand controls, based on the information from the sensor, in an optimum position for use by the driver.